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Whitefish 2023


momskeeztoo

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On 3/25/2023 at 1:28 PM, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

Just to illustrate how large Montana is.  

BC59181A-56E5-4EF2-B65F-6242774E8035.jpeg

Saw that recently and saved it for the next time someone said, if you're going to Big Sky why don't you go to Whitefish while you're at it.

 

A few years ago a high school classmate told me she was going to be in Denver and how about meeting up.

Edited by sibhusky
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@sibhusky

If you dont mind me asking, what sort of offseason (as in non - ski season) outdoor activities do you get involved in?

I would imagine the summers are amazing and very beautiful there, Minus the tourists around Glacier Park.

Whether up in MT or WY I someday want to head out and do one of those day long horse ride tours....   #rawhide

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We used to hike a bit, but after my husband got attacked and mauled by a grizzly he lost interest in hiking. I mostly garden. We've also sold the boat. Since Covid, the tourist situation has gotten pretty bad. The reservation system at the Park has resulted in more people in town and in the remaining state and national forests as well. I keep hoping they will go back to video games. 

Now my daughter and son-in-law are avid four season mountain bikers. Whitefish has an extensive trail network in the area plus the stuff at the resort.  They live down in the Bitterroot, which also has plenty of trails. He hunts in the fall.

There are lakes, rivers, golf courses, galore. Really, you need to ask what isn't here: Sports teams, malls, an interstate, not many museums.

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19 minutes ago, sibhusky said:

We used to hike a bit, but after my husband got attacked and mauled by a grizzly he lost interest in hiking. I mostly garden. We've also sold the boat. Since Covid, the tourist situation has gotten pretty bad. The reservation system at the Park has resulted in more people in town and in the remaining state and national forests as well. I keep hoping they will go back to video games. 

Now my daughter and son-in-law are avid four season mountain bikers. Whitefish has an extensive trail network in the area plus the stuff at the resort.  They live down in the Bitterroot, which also has plenty of trails. He hunts in the fall.

There are lakes, rivers, golf courses, galore. Really, you need to ask what isn't here: Sports teams, malls, an interstate, not many museums.

Do you ever miss jersey?

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1 hour ago, sibhusky said:

We used to hike a bit, but after my husband got attacked and mauled by a grizzly he lost interest in hiking. 

Holy shit. That would make me lose interest in leaving my house. Assuming everything is ok now, that has to be a hell of a story, and a lucky “I’m able to tell this” type of story. 

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18 hours ago, sibhusky said:

I keep hoping they will go back to video games. 

I second the motion lol

thanks for the info and stay safe out there! 🙏

I know Calgary has a stampede. Festival in July but it looks like a million people crammed into a sardine can

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17 hours ago, momskeeztoo said:

Hahaha. Why would anyone miss Jersey?!! And isn’t Sib from Pa? 

Both. Born in Pa, there for 23 or so years (back and forth), 3 in NY, 1 year in Austria, 1 year in CT, then 23 in NJ, now 20 in MT.

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15 hours ago, GrilledSteezeSandwich said:

I think her daughter had a bear encounter as well. 

She was part of the same event. Slapped down on the ground initially by mama griz and my husband ran to save her. He got the brunt of the attack. Pepper spray saved him. The dogs were useless.

This happened a 1/4 mile from the house.

Edited by sibhusky
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51 minutes ago, momskeeztoo said:

I guess they close because all the grizzlies are becoming more active? 

Also most places in the Rockies close around now because tourists stop coming.  Only a few resorts closer to major metros can get enough skiers to continue operation later in April. 

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12 hours ago, momskeeztoo said:

I guess they close because all the grizzlies are becoming more active? 

Theoretically. They have an agreement with the Forest Service with a firm close date. So they can't go around making last minute changes because they just got a foot of snow (last year, not this year). However, for some weird reason (Utah? Tahoe?), visitors were way off the January and February numbers in March. I think maybe people booking for March are watching the early season numbers before booking. Which makes total sense. I swore last year in Lech I'd never ever travel for skiing in March, it's too unpredictable. Anyway, by the 3rd week of March, it was approaching ghost town status. Part of that might be the snow. We had an abysmal year in terms of snowfall, even though what we got held up well because of so many really frigid days. So, they wouldn't have even wanted to stay open, bears or no bears. (It was in fact empty enough on Gray Wolf that I was actively looking for bears on it. Bears have even been IN TOWN for weeks.) Hellroaring Basin always closes April 1 because of grizzly dens near the creek area down low. But, people stop coming and I am sure that is the main reason no matter what they claim. They also say they need to give employees a "release date" and that they can't react due to that. And maybe that's also a factor because a lot of the long time local employees do construction in the summer as it's the natural seasonal shift. They will all be eager to go to their much higher-paying construction jobs. And the kids from South America will have airplane tickets already bought.

Whitefish Mountain Resort also has a huge summer business they need to prep for. Believe it or not, they actually have had to bulldoze snow out of the way some years to prep the mountain biking trails. 

So "grizzlies"? One factor. It sounds cool. (Not saying there aren't any, hell, I know personally they are in the area. I just think that BUSINESS reasons are the bigger factor.)

Edited by sibhusky
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  • 9 months later...

It's been pretty nippy lately, to the extent that most lifts haven't been running due to wind chills in the -50° to -60° range. Finally opened the upper lifts today (0°, little wind). Might have been the best day so far this season.

PANO_20240116_144405.thumb.jpg.31d8e4968deafec6f826dda3d8c33b5a.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

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